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Detroit_stylin
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Username: Detroit_stylin

Post Number: 5389
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Friday, January 04, 2008 - 10:09 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ray1936 do you remember this name and of so know anything about this case?
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Ray1936
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Username: Ray1936

Post Number: 2519
Registered: 01-2005
Posted on Saturday, January 05, 2008 - 12:34 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Boy, I know that name, but I can't place the details.

Well, a google search turned up his entry on the Findagrave web site. Accidental victim in a holdup? I vaguely recall the incident, but that's all.
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Silas
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Username: Silas

Post Number: 54
Registered: 12-2007
Posted on Saturday, January 05, 2008 - 9:46 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

This came up from a Google search for Sgt Dwight Hal Johnson

Dwight Hal Johnson
Specialist Fifth Class, U.S. Army
Born: May 7, 1947 at Detroit, MI
Entered Service: Detroit, MI
Date/Place of Action: Jan 15, 1968 - Dak To, Kontum Province, Vietnam
Unit: Company B, 1st Battalion, 69th Armor, 4th Infantry Division
Presentation: Presented at the White House
by President Lyndon B. Johnson on Nov 19, 1968
Date of Death: Apr 30, 1971
Buried at: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA

http://www.homeofheroes.com/thumbnails/7_rvn/johnson_dwight.jpg


(Message edited by silas on January 05, 2008)

(Message edited by silas on January 05, 2008)
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Firstandten
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Post Number: 142
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Posted on Saturday, January 05, 2008 - 11:30 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

according to Wikipedia and I remember it as well he was killed in a hold up of a store. Turns out that his gun was not loaded.
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Silas
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Username: Silas

Post Number: 55
Registered: 12-2007
Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2008 - 12:31 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Specialist 5 Johnson, a tank driver with Company B, was a member of a reaction force moving to aid other elements of his platoon, which was in heavy contact with a battalion size North Vietnamese force. Specialist Johnson's tank, upon reaching the point of contact, threw a track and became immobilized. Realizing that he could do no more as a driver, he climbed out of the vehicle, armed only with a .45 caliber pistol. Despite intense hostile fire, Specialist Johnson killed several enemy soldiers before he had expended his ammunition. Returning to his tank through a heavy volume of antitank rocket, small arms and automatic weapons fire, he obtained a sub-machine gun with which to continue his fight against the advancing enemy. Armed with this weapon, Specialist Johnson again braved deadly enemy fire to return to the center of the ambush site where he courageously eliminated more of the determined foe. Engaged in extremely close combat when the last of his ammunition was expended, he killed an enemy soldier with the stock end of his submachine gun. Now weaponless, Specialist Johnson ignored the enemy fire around him, climbed into his platoon sergeant's tank, extricated a wounded crewmember and carried him to an armored personnel carrier. He then returned to the same tank and assisted in firing the main gun until it jammed. In a magnificent display of courage, Specialist Johnson exited the tank and again armed only with a .45 caliber pistol, he engaged several North Vietnamese troops in close proximity to the vehicle. Fighting his way through devastating fire and remounting his own immobilized tank, he remained fully exposed to the enemy as he bravely and skillfully engaged them with the tank's externally-mounted .50 caliber machine gun; where he remained until the situation was brought under control. Specialist Johnson's profound concern for his fellow soldiers, at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Army.
After returning from Vietnam, Johnson had difficulty adjusting to his post war role. Until he was awarded the Medal of Honor, he had trouble finding work. After receiving the medal, he went back to the army and worked as a recruiter and made public relations appearances. When he began missing appointments and speaking engagements, he was sent for medical evaluation. He was diagnosed with Post-Vietnam Syndrome, a form of depression. He was deeply in debt and battling depression and the demons of his heroics in Vietnam.
On April 30, 1971, Dwight H. Johnson was shot to death while holding up a grocery store in Detroit. His weapon was later found not to be loaded. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Sgt. Dwight H. Johnson
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Firstandten
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Username: Firstandten

Post Number: 143
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2008 - 10:43 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

After all that Spec Johnson did in Vietnam to stay alive and defending his countrymen, to die like he did is truly tragic, we should never forget that some of our guys come home from battle messed up in the head and as a society we MUST support and help our people readjust financially and emotionally. Every Detroiter should as least know about this brave man.
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Macknwarren
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Username: Macknwarren

Post Number: 5
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2008 - 11:37 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

From the Detroit Almanac (p. 75):

"...Back in Detroit and out of the service, Johnson pulled a pistol in a northwest side party store. The owner, also armed, fired five bullets into Johnson, who died at age 24.
"Relatives said Johnson had a hard time dealing with receiving the medal and coming home after many of his buddies had died in Vietnam. Said his mother: 'Sometimes I wonder if Dwight tired of this life and needed someone else to pull the trigger.'
"Johnson's story was depicted in a 1986 play titled 'Medal of Honor Rag,' which also was performed on TV."

Note: I think the party store was around Greenfield and Orangelawn.
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Lowell
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Username: Lowell

Post Number: 4423
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Sunday, January 06, 2008 - 4:24 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Not all wounds are physical. It is possible to be mortally wounded by combat as well as in combat. RIP Sgt. Johnson. No matter what happened, the nation owes you a debt of gratitude and needs to learn lessons from your life to insure that all our wounded veterans are cared for.
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Gnome
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Username: Gnome

Post Number: 534
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Monday, January 07, 2008 - 5:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

from: http://www.findagrave.com

quote:

On April 30, 1971 he happened to walk into a Detroit Liquor store during a robbery, and was shot to death by the store owner, who assumed that being an African-American like the two men who were holding up the store, Dwight Hal Johnson was also one of the robbers. Sergeant Johnson was in reality only stopping in to buy food for his infant son. His murder was never investigated by the Detroit police.



On the above site are photos of the grown-up baby boy.

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